American Handgunner Jul/Aug 2010 - Page 32

THE SIXGUNNER John Taffin Groups shot by Taffin indoors are still more than acceptable even though he was handicapped by poor lighting. Mastodons Oh to be young again! Target shot with the .510 GNR by Kase Reeder. Reeder Custom Guns Mastadons: Two-Tone .510 GNR and satin stainless .455 GNR. The Return Of The T Boomers in the early 1970s, .44 Magnums from both Smith & Wesson and Ruger were easy to find. In fact it was not that unusual to find a like new specimen for sale with a box of cartridges with 44 rounds left. In those days when the .357 Magnum and .45 ACP were considered extremely powerful weapons, the .44 Magnum was more than many could handle. Then came Dirty Harry and those who had never even shot a gun suddenly wanted a .44 Magnum. The demand was incredible, with Smith & Wesson working around the clock trying to supply the imagined need. I was one of the fortunate ones having purchased my Ruger .44 Blackhawk in the 1950s, and my Super Blackhawk as well as both a 4" and 61/2" Smith & Wesson in the early 1960s. Something had to be done to relieve the demand and that something was the Ruger Redhawk. Arriving in 1979, the Ruger Redhawk .44 Magnum was stronger than any double action sixgun ever offered, and I still regard Reeder Big The .455 GNR and .510 GNR. here was a time when elephants roamed North America. Mastodons had tusks up to 15' in length and were found in Africa, Europe and both North and South America. The woolly mammoth had longer and shaggier hair with tusks up to 13'. This creature was a cold-weather animal found mostly in Siberia and Alaska. Both the mammoth and the mastodon disappeared 10,000 to 11,000 years ago and both for the same reasons — climate change and hunting pressure. We definitely know it was not man-made global warming that killed them off! If elephant hunting today is the ultimate hunting experience imagine going after one of these prehistoric creatures with nothing but a spear. The mastodon may have disappeared over 10,000 years ago, however it has now been resurrected, but I’m getting ahead of the story. From early 1956 until the arrival of Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry movies Mongolian stag grips on the reconfigured Redhawk grip the frame of the Mastadons. it as a brute of a weapon — sturdier than the Smith & Wesson and Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnums. I don’t believe it’s possible to make a stronger double action revolver, which is at the same time portable and pack-able. Modern Mastodons .44 Magnum Mania 32 Now we’ve taken the long way around the barn talking about elephants and Redhawks so let’s pull it all together. Gary Reeder of Reeder Custom Guns, has long offered custom Continued on page 91 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • JULY/AUGUST2010